How many times have you been stopped by a stranger wanting directions to a building on campus? It’s not uncommon.
Because of this, Student Sen. Mia Krueger wants to install a visitor information center. She reasons that this center would help eliminate confusion on campus. Visitors would have a place to go to find everything they need.
Krueger looked at other schools, such as UTD, that have a tollbooth of sorts as the one-stop shop for visitors. She hopes SMU can install a similar building. Other senators think more campus maps would be beneficial.
Senate voted on Krueger’s resolution a week ago. It passed by a narrow margin. Many senators felt it was too vague and needed work.
But we believe the resolution and the visitor information center are unnecessary for several reasons:
SMU is a relatively small, contained campus. Buildings are in walking distance of visitor parking lots. Many visitors are attending campus events. Parking is often offered near the assigned building.
SMU has campus maps placed at several key locations, such as in front of Hughes-Trigg or near Umphrey Lee. There are an adequate number of maps for visitors who are lost on campus.
SMU offers a variety of campus maps on its Web site. Searching for “campus map” on the website brings up 3,610 starting points for finding your way around. In addition, the Web site has a special page entitled “SMU Maps & Directions.” Surely a visitor can plan ahead and print out one of the many campus maps online?
SMU does not have a central entrance location. Schools such as UTD only offer one way into the campus-SMU has at least five points of entry for cars. Where would the tollbooth go? Not every visitor drives onto the Boulevard.
SMU is home to approximately 11,000 friendly students who are more than willing to help point a lost visitor in the right direction. As an added bonus, not only are those lost visitors getting directions, they are interacting with the student population and getting a feel for the campus culture.
Finally, a big tollbooth would obscure the beauty of our campus; this is something we feel is one of the biggest assets to SMU.
